Breaking Silence
by MoonlightintheMorning
Summary: Lily Evans' younger twin Rose can't speak. She spends her younger years in solitude, refusing to attend Hogwarts where she will be ridiculed for her condition. But what happens in seventh year when she finally changes her mind? Follow Rose's entrance into the wizarding world where she meets friends, enemies, and a dark-haired boy who might just help her find a voice of her own.
1. Introduction

_**A/N: This is the first fanfic I'm putting online, ever, so please be nice, I'm a new author. I really hope you enjoy this, and please review! -MitM**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing**_

* * *

 _30 January, 1960_

Mrs. Evans held her newborn daughter in her arms. She was born nearly five minutes after Lily, who currently resided in Mr. Evans' arms.

"Rose," she decided, stroking her daughter's cheek.

"I suppose, since the other two have flower names already," Mr. Evans chuckled.

"Oh, wait until Petunia sees she has _two_ sisters. She'll be so happy," Mrs. Evans smiled lovingly.

 _9 May, 1961_

Lily was able to say eight words. Mum, Da, Rose, Tuney, up, no, shoes, and moose. Moose, of course, referring to her favorite stuffed animal.

Rose did not say any words, though she seemed to understand them just fine.

"Rose honey, where's the bird?" Mrs. Evans asked her daughter on a family picnic. Rose pointed to a robin twittering in a nearby tree. "Good sweetheart, you found it! Can you say bird for me dear?" The mother asked encouragingly.

The one-year-old stared, unresponsive.

"Say bird, sweetheart. Can you say that for mummy please?" Rose continued to stare with intelligent green eyes, but not once did she open her mouth.

 _3 June, 1961_

"She won't talk. I ask her to say things and she just looks at me, but if I ask her to do something for me, she'll do it. I know she can understand me just fine, but she won't say anything! I can't make any sense of it at all." Mrs. Evans explained.

"Are there any other things she does, besides refusing to speak? Does she flap her hands, not respond when you call her, things like that?" The doctor asked.

"No, no, she's very smart… I just can't understand why she won't talk."

Rose was tested for mental disorders and problems with her vocal cords, esophagus, and lungs. There was nothing wrong with her.

"She'll probably grow out of it," the doctor shrugged.

 _4 March, 1963_

Mr. and Mrs. Evans brought Rose to a children's hospital in a nearby city.

"There's nothing wrong with her," the doctor said, sounding terribly confused. "She simply won't speak. I can recommend a psychiatrist?"

 _23 June, 1966_

Mrs. Evans drove Rose and Petunia to another doctor, after the Psychiatrist proved to be completely worthless.

"She has elective mutism," the doctor said in a professional sounding tone.

"What does that mean?" Mrs. Evans asked fearfully.

"She has the ability to speak, but won't. Some people with this condition only don't speak in social situations or around new people. Your child has a very severe case, it seems, but I'm sure we'll be able to cure her," the doctor said confidently.

 _2 September, 1966_

"Why isn't Rose coming to school with me?" Lily asked.

"Because she can't talk, sweetheart," Mrs. Evans answered quietly.

"She doesn't _need_ to talk!" Lily insisted.

"Yes she does darling, or else, how will she be able to communicate? If she can't communicate with her teacher or her classmates, it will be hard for her to learn anything." Mrs. Evans had quietly explained.

 _September 3, 1966_

"Ms. Beakley?" Lily asked her teacher. They were supposed to be filling out their 'About Me' papers.

"Yes Lily, do you have a question?" Ms. Beakley asked kindly.

"Is there a way for people who can't say anything to communicate?"

Ms. Beakley paused, a little surprised.

"Well, yes there is, Lily dear. It's called sign language."

"What's that?" Lily asked, excited.

"Well, people who know sign language use their hands to speak instead of their voices." Ms.

Beakley tried to explain.

" _I_ want to learn," Lily said confidently.

"Well, I'm sure the library will have something on that…"

 _5 September, 1966_

"Rose! Where are you!' Lily ran into the house with a very large book clamped under her arm. _Learning British Sign Language,_ the cover read.

"And here's the sign for mum, see?" Lily pointed. Both girls were sitting on Lily's bed, poring over the large book.

 _Mum,_ Rose signed, copying the gesture the book indicated.

"Look at that!" Lily said excitedly. "It's your first word!" Rose ducked her head, but a smile crept along her face. "Let's learn another one!" Lily squeaked in excitement.

"What are you two doing?" Petunia's curious voice asked from the doorway.

"We're learning to speak with our hands!" Lily exclaimed, looking up from the book. "Rose already learned her first word, see, show her, Rose."

 _Mum,_ Rose signed.

"What's it mean?" Petunia asked.

"Mum, see? And this one's dad, like this." Lily copied the book's illustration.

 _Dad,_ Rose signed.

"I want to learn too!" Petunia exclaimed, hopping on top of the bed.

 _8 October, 1966_

"Rose, do you want water or juice?" Lily asked at dinner.

 _Juice,_ Rose signed.

"Rose said she wants juice, daddy," Lily informed her father confidently.

"And how do you know that?" Mrs. Evans asked, amused.

"She told me." Lily shrugged.

"I didn't hear anything," Mrs. Evans responded suspiciously. Petunia rolled her eyes, grinning.

"In _sign_ language, mummy," Petunia giggled.

"Sign language you say?" Mr. Evans sounded appalled. "Did you girls all learn sign language?"

"Yes, daddy. We've got a big book upstairs we've been learning out of." Lily nodded knowingly.

"I can't believe we didn't think of that!" Mrs. Evans cried, looking at her husband. "You girls can all talk to each other?" She sounded close to tears.

"Don't cry, mummy, it's not sad." Lily patted her mother's arm comfortingly.

"I'm not sad, sweetheart." Mrs. Evans pulled her daughters close into a hug. "I'm happy. So, so, happy."

 _8 March, 1969_

"What did you pull me all the way out here for?" Lily asked. Rose had grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her all the way to the playground, two blocks away.

 _Look,_ she signed. She hopped on one of the swings and began to swing back and forth.

"Rose, I already know how to swing." Lily frowned. Rose impatiently gestured for her to wait while trying to swing simultaneously.

Lily watched as Rose swung higher and higher, and then launched herself off the swing.

"Rose!" Lily cried, terrified. Rose soared twenty feet into the air, before landing as soft as a butterfly.

Lily gaped, like a fish.

"How did you do that?"

Rose shrugged.

"I want to try!" Lily decided with a shout, and ran over to the swing set.

Lily copied Rose, swinging higher and higher. When she was as high as she could get, she let go. She soared like a bird, letting her arms wide while her red hair streamed behind her. Her feet planted firmly on the ground as if she had never left it.

"Woah!" She cried.

"Lily!" Petunia's voice screeched. Both girls turned to see Petunia running towards them full force. "Are you hurt?" She panted.

"Not at all," Lily giggled.

"How did you do that?" Petunia looked shocked.

"Rose showed me!" Lily said excitedly. Petunia looked at Rose, who shrugged in confirmation. She squinted in suspicion, her mouth pulling tight.

" _You_ try it, Tuney!" Lily exclaimed, already pushing her older sister towards the swings.

* * *

"From now on, _no one_ is allowed to jump off the swings. Alright?" Mrs. Evans asked sternly. Lily and Rose nodded with bowed heads, looking ashamed. Petunia sniffed, holding a pack of frozen peas to her chin while Mr. Evans put cream and bandages over her scraped hands and knees.

"Sorry Tuney," Lily whispered. Petunia didn't answer.

 _24 March, 1969_

 _What's wrong?_ Rose signed to her sisters, who had just stomped into the house, seething.

"That _hideous_ Snape boy called me a _muggle,_ whatever _that_ means." Petunia spat angrily.

"And he called me a witch!" Lily humphed, stomping her foot and folding her arms.

 _That's not nice,_ Rose signed.

"He's river-scum anyways," Petunia sniffed.

 _31 March 1969_

"Rose! You'll never believe what happened today!" Lily whisper-shouted to her twin, stumbling over the front door step in her excitement.

Rose's fingers ceased movement over the piano keys as she turned to her twin, raising her eyebrows in curiosity.

"Remember that Snape boy?" Lily asked.

 _The one who called you a witch?_ Rose asked.

"Yes, yes, but _listen!_ He says there's a school for people like us! A school for- for-" Lily, glanced around the room nervously before leaning closer. "For _magic!_ " Lily sat back to see the reaction on Rose's face.

Rose looked at Lily blankly.

 _Since when have you started listening to boys like him?_ Rose signed suspiciously.

"He wasn't trying to be mean when he called me a witch, Lily. It's what you call girls who can do magic like me- like _you!_ "

 _I'm not a witch,_ Rose signed, frowning.

"Wh- Rose! There's _no_ denying it. You've got a whole lot more magic than me! Everything I can do is stuff you've showed me first!" Lily protested.

 _Not true._

"It _is_ true! You HAVE to believe it all! We're going to get letters!"

 _Letters?_

"Yes! They send them to all the magic children!"

 _Who sends them?_

"Hogwarts! The magic school!" Lily exclaimed.

 _Well, that sounds like you're already planning on going, then,_ Rose signed, and then turned

back to the piano.

"Well, you'll come with me, obviously," Lily sounded impatient now.

 _No._ Rose signed.

"And why not!?" Lily demanded angrily.

 _I can't go to school, remember? I can't speak!"_

"You could if you wanted to! You're just stubborn!" Lily yelled.

 _What's going to happen to Petunia when you leave? She can't go. Mum and Dad can't go. I_

 _can't go._ Rose scowled furiously.

"But you CAN go!" Lily snapped.

 _No._ Rose got up from the piano. _I can't._ She stomped up the stairs angrily, leaving a fuming Lily behind her.

 _16 June, 1970_

"And we're all right, because we're only kids. They only use Dementors on _really_ bad wizards, the ones who end up in Azkaban. That's the wizard prison. Anyways, once you get a wand and start going to Hogwarts, you can't use magic outside school anymore. They're going to send someone to our house to explain to our parents about us, but usually they send and owl…"

Rose rolled her eyes. Lily had been talking to Snape again. She rolled away from Lily and shut her eyes. She didn't need to hear about a school she wasn't going to.

 _5 August, 1971_

 _Knock knock knock_

Rose looked up from her piano music, frowning. It was mid afternoon. Who would come calling?

She peeked outside the window and saw a tall, oddly dressed, stern-looking woman.

She opened the door.

"Hello little girl, my name is Minerva McGonagall." The woman introduced herself. Rose looked up at her, squinting in the summer sun. "Are your parents home?" The woman asked, frowning.

Rose shook her head, her dark red curls bouncing around her face. "Perhaps I should return at a different time, then?" McGonagall asked, looking suspicious. Rose shrugged. "What time would you say would be best?"

Rose stared, shrugging.

"Can you tell me your name?" McGonagall was definitely frustrated now. Rose didn't answer.

Just then, the Evans' car pulled into the driveway, returned from picking Lily and Petunia up from school.

"I'm so sorry, ma'am! I only stepped out for a minute, I didn't expect anyone to come calling…" Mrs. Evans trailed off. She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, who did you say you were?"

"Minerva McGonagall, deputy headmistress of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry." The woman introduced herself.

"Witchcraft and- I'm sorry, I think I must have misheard you?" Mrs. Evans asked.

"You did not mishear me. Two of your daughters have been accepted into Hogwarts." The woman said.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I think you might have the wrong house. I didn't submit any applications for the girls, and we're very happy in the school district we're in."

"Your daughters possess special abilities that enable them to do things that are not ordinary."

"You mean like this?" Lily piped up, holding out a flower. Mrs. Evans gasped when the flower began to open and close its petals.

"Exactly." McGonagall smiled.

 _Mum, I'm not going to a magic school,_ Rose signed to her mother.

"Well I'm sure they won't force you," Mrs. Evans said, sounding dazed.

 _Good, then I'm going upstairs._ Rose signed, and then hurried out of the presence of the rather hawk like woman.

 _8 August, 1971_

"I can't _believe_ you convinced them to let you homeschool." Lily said, sounding astonished. Rose didn't answer.

"What am I going to _do,_ Rose?" Lily asked, sounding scared. "I thought we would go together."

 _I'm not ready for school, Lily. You will be fine,_ Rose signed, smiling softly at her sister. Lily tackled her in a hug, burying her face into her shoulder.

"I'm not ready to be apart form you," Lily cried. Rose hugged her close, her arms communicating what her mouth couldn't.

 _Me either,_ Rose thought, but remained silent.

 _3 September 1971_

 _I have to use the toilet,_ Rose signed to her family.

"Alright dear, but make it quick," Mrs. Evans said absentmindedly.

Rose wandered through Kings Cross, not really making an effort to find a bathroom. Truthfully, she was avoiding going onto the magic platform. She didn't want to be in a station full of wizards. People would try to talk to her, and what then? Her family would have to make up excuses for her again, and that's the last thing she wanted.

Rose watched her family enter the platform magically and waited for them to exit again. After around fifteen minutes, Petunia and her parents reemerged.

Rose hurried over as though she had just come back from the bathroom.

"Rose! Where have you been? You missed saying goodbye to Lily!" Mrs. Evans asked.

 _Sorry, I got lost._ Rose signed.

Mrs. Evans looked apologetic. "Oh! I'm sorry sweetheart. Well, at least you're here now. Let's go, shall we?"

 _19 December 1971_

Rose was sitting at the piano, squinting at the notes to Rondo Alla Turca. Her fingers had just began to play again when the fireplace burst into life with blazing green fire. Lily stepped out of the fireplace and coughed, dusting soot off her clothes.

"Rose!" Lily yelled, racing over to her sister.

Rose smiled and stood up from the piano, overcoming her initial shock.

"I've missed you so much!" She squealed, clutching her twin close. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh! How are you?" Lily pulled back and held Rose at arms length, looking her up and down.

 _Fine,_ Rose signed, smiling.

"Where's Petunia? Lily asked, looking around the house.

 _Mum is picking her up from a friend's house,_ Rose answered.

"Oh, okay. This is the perfect time to catch up, then!" Lily dragged her sister upstairs, no doubt to build a blanket fort like they did when they were kids.

* * *

"And THEN he turned Sev's hair purple! How _rude_ is that!?" Lily ranted, holding her stuffed moose close to her chest under the shelter of the blanket fort.

 _Rude,_ Rose agreed.

"He's probably the meanest boy I know. Mary says he only acts out when _I'm_ around. How does that make any sense? I told her she's losing her marbles, but she reckons he wants to get my attention. _As if._ What's he want my attention for? He doesn't get enough from his nasty friends?" Lily continued.

 _He probably likes you,_ Rose suggested.

"Oh, _sure._ If anything, he wants to put ink in my hair. He's already done it to Marlene, the stupid git. Poor Marlene, it took her _ages_ to get it all out, even when we all helped her. Alice managed to find a cleaning spell in one of our textbooks, which worked pretty well, but it took us a few tries to get it right… Anyway, the _point_ is, James Potter is a horrible prat, and I will never be friends with him." Lily said the last sentence with finality, crossing her arms firmly. "Anyway... " Lily shifted her position. "Enough about me. How have _you_ been getting on?"

Rose shrugged. _I'm fine, I suppose. I mostly study out of my textbooks and play piano. Petunia doesn't want to be around me much, anymore._ Rose added the last part sadly, thinking about her sister.

"Really? Why not? She's not mad at you too, is she?" Lily asked, looking sad.

 _She doesn't want anything to do with me. She has a lot of friends from school now._ Rose shrugged, trying to brush it off as no big deal.

"Oh Rose, how awful! I'm so sorry, I didn't know. I'll write to you every day, if you want. I hope mum and dad won't mind the owls…" Lily trailed off.

 _I'm sure they won't mind,_ Rose smiled.

"Hey, do we have any Christmas cookies?" Lily asked, getting up.

 _Not yet,_ Rose signed.

"Well, let's go make some!" Lily pulled Rose up and flounced out of the room, her long red locks swaying behind her.

 _2 September 1772_

" _Please_ come to Hogwarts, Rose! It's not the same without you." Lily begged, clasping Rose's hands in her own.

Rose shook her head firmly.

"Please! Just try it?" Lily pleaded.

 _No._

"Come _on,_ Rosie! I don't want to go alone!" Lily shook Rose back and forth out of frustration.

Rose flopped onto her bed and pulled her pillow over her ears, glaring out at Lily. Then, she deliberately shook her head.

"Well fine! _Be_ like that!"

 _23 December 1972_

"He asked me out eight times in the past month _alone,_ he is _so_ annoying. I always say, 'James, I would rather date a _toad.'_ He doesn't even care. I don't think he listens to a word I say, actually."

 _Why don't you ignore him?_

"Well I _can't,_ he is far too annoying. Yelling at him gets my anger out, or else it all bottles up. The last time I tried to ignore him for a day, I accidentally blew up glass we were supposed to be transfiguring. It wasn't pretty."

 _You let him get to you too easily._

"Well I don't _let_ him. He just _does,_ argh! It's like there's ants crawling under my skin and my stomach is jumping around, my heart goes up, and face just starts _burning_ and I just _HAVE_ to yell at him. It's just a natural reaction." Lily shrugged.

Rose smirked. What she was describing didn't sound like hate at all.

 _2 September 1973_

"Rose, I can't go to Hogwarts without you! If you were there I might be able to bear people like James Potter and Sirius Black."

 _You seem to do fine without me._

"Well, I'm _not._ Marlene and Mary don't even get upset with Sirius anymore, they think he's _fetching."_ Lily paused to pretend to retch.

 _You'll be fine, Lily._

"But-"

 _No._

 _13 April 1974_

" _Absolutely_ unbearable, do you know how many times he's asked me out? I've been keeping track. He's coming close to two hundred."

 _You know exactly how many times he's asked you out?_

"One hundred and eighty seven times, he is _so_ annoying."

 _If you insist._

 _18 April 1975_

"And then he called me a mudblood," Lily sobbed. Rose rubbed soothing circles on her back, silent as always. "Why would he do that, Rose?"

 _He's a scumbag,_ Rose signed.

"Yeah," Lily nodded, sniffing. "You're right."

 _25 December 1975_

 _Lily,_ Rose signed.

"Yes?" Lily looked up from her presents.

 _There's an owl here._

Sure enough, a tawny owl stood outside the girls' window, peering at them with yellow eyes.

Lily wandered over to the window and opened it, allowing the owl to hop inside.

"It's a package. To me," Lily added.

 _Open the letter first,_ Rose suggested.

"Right," Lily agreed. She squinted at the untidy scrawl. "My Dearest Lily Flower," she read aloud. "Oh no," she muttered. "It's from James."

Rose immediately snatched the parcel and letter from her sister and hopped to the other side of the room to read it, before Lily could burn it.

 _My Dearest Lily Flower_

 _Happy Christmas, I hope you enjoy your gift. You know how I hate to be away from you, and I thought it would be appropriate._

 _Love you always,_

 _James Potter_

Rose ripped open the parcel while Lily snatched the letter away. Lily froze when Rose's gasp was audible, even in breathing Rose rarely let herself be heard.

Rose held a snow globe in her hands, an absolutely beautiful elegant silver stag stood in the middle of it, while snow drifted around it serenely.

Lily couldn't refrain from sighing in adoration.

 _Look,_ Rose signed, pointing at the silver base of the snowglobe. In elegant silver print it read, " _My love has made me selfish. I cannot exist without you- I am forgetful of every thing but seeing you again" Thinking of you -James_

 _He's good,_ Rose signed.

Lily nodded blankly without thinking, her eyes glazed over in adoration as she held the silver gift in her hands.

 _5 July 1976_

Mr. and Mrs. Evans, Lily, and Rose were all in tears.

"How could she do this to us?" Mrs. Evans sobbed, clutching Petunia's letter to her chest. Lily sobbed, holding her mother in a tight hug. "I thought we raised her right. Where did I go wrong?"

"It's not your fault, dear," Mr. Evans said gruffly. "You are a wonderful mother."

"Then why would she run away? Why would she leave us for a boy? A boy we've never met before!" Mrs. Evans cried even harder into her daughter's arms.

"I can't believe Tuney's eloped," Lily sobbed. "I didn't even get to see the wedding. I didn't even get to-" she broke off to be overcome by tears again, her shoulders shaking violently.

"We're her family!" Mrs. Evans agreed with a sob. "I'm her _mother!"_

"My little girl has gotten married," Mr. Evans choked. "And I didn't get to walk her down the aisle."

Rose stayed silent, her lips gluing themselves together, her throat closing around itself. Her cheeks were coated in a fresh sheet of sparkling tears.

 _Mother,_ the letter read. _I've gotten married to a man named Vernon Dursley. I love him, and I'm starting a new life with him. We already have a house and a car and he has a job with an important company. I am very happy here, and I won't be moving back in with you. Signed, Petunia Dursley._

 _2 September 1976_

"Rose? What are you doing?" Lily asked, looking around their room. There were clothes everywhere, with Rose in the middle, tossing things into piles.

 _Packing,_ she signed.

"Packing for what?" Lily sounded cautious, but Rose could hear a tiny flicker of hope in her voice. Rose turned to face Lily, slowly, deliberately.

 _Hogwarts._

* * *

 ** _Sorry my intro is really long, I had a lot of backstory to cover. The rest of my chapters won't be this long, promise._**


	2. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Ok, I absolutely LOVE all three of my reviewers, as well as all who followed/favorited. HUGE shoutout to you guys. To answer the reviews,**_

 _ **FenneHP- Thank you for your review! I realize now that I didn't explain what happened with Rose's education well at all. I will try and explain that in this chapter. Also, the reason Rose is afraid of going into public is because she has elective mutism, though in this time period they didn't know how to treat it very well. It was renamed selective mutism in the mid nineties. People with this condition nearly always have a social anxiety that causes them to become so scared they freeze up and can't speak. Rose gets anxious around strangers and refuses even to sign, though she probably knows her fears are unrealistic. Again, sorry I have to explain this off script, I'll try to fix this in future chapters.**_

 _ **HPuni101- I'm so happy you liked it! I'm going to try to explain what happened with her magical education in this chapter, I'm sorry for the confusion.**_

 _ **Lightbabe- Thank you for your review! I'm so happy you liked this story, and I hope you will continue reading!**_

 _ **Alright, enough babbling, my dudes. Please review, and, enjoy! -MitM**_

* * *

 _3 September 1976_

The moment they are on the platform, Rose reaches out to Lily's arm and clutches at it, her body freezing up. _There are so many people._

"Deep breaths, Rose, deep breaths," Lily whispers comfortingly. Rose nods and does as Lily instructs. It helps, a little.

"Well," Mr. Evans says gruffly. "I'm sure you two can see yourselves onto the train…" he trails off, looking embarrassed. "So…" he reaches over and pulls his twin daughters into a bear hug. "Goodbye girls," he mumbles.

"Goodbye, dad!" Lily hugs him back fiercely.

"You know, your mother is very upset she's not here to see you two off…" Mr. Evans begins.

"No dad, it's fine, we understand." Lily assures him.

"Alright. Well, I'll… see you two for Christmas, then. Be good, alright?" Mr. Evans smiles kindly.

"Alright dad." Lily grins. "Bye!"

* * *

"Okay Rosie, I have to get to that head's meeting I was telling you about. Will you be okay here until I'm done?" Lily huffs as she heaves her trunk onto the racks.

Rose nods, glancing around anxiously. The compartment is empty, but Rose is still nervous. There are people next door, people in the hall, people out the window…

* * *

Rose lets out an audible sigh of relief when Lily returns. Three other people had joined her compartment while Lily was gone, and her anxiety levels were through the roof. _What if they ask me a question? What if the expect me to say something? Will they think I'm rude? Will they think I'm stupid?_ These questions flash through her mind nonstop, making her freeze up and avert her eyes from the happily chatting teenagers.

"Rose! Sorry I've taken so long, the meeting dragged on for _ages…"_ Lily rolls her eyes as she enters the compartment. "Anyway, I found Mary and everyone, they're in the next train car over. Let's move over to their compartment, they've been _dying_ to meet you."

Rose, though she doesn't want to meet anyone at all, is also glad to be out of the compartment of strangers.

Her relief is short lived, however.

"So, why didn't you ever come to Hogwarts before?" Mary asks.

"She can't speak." Lily answers for Rose, who looks as though her lips are glued together.

"Yes, but Lily says you can do sign language. Why didn't you just do that?" The girl persists. Rose looks away. Why can't she just drop it? No one else knows sign language, and she hates signing in front of strangers, that's why.

Lily says as much, and Mary seems to realize that she's probing at a sensitive subject.

"So how are you going into seventh year? Do you know any magic at all?" Marlene asks.

"Rose studied out of the same books we did, only at home. She had to learn the magic theory really well, and they sent her all these tests to make sure she was keeping up. In the summer, she would visit Hogwarts for a day and learn to do the actual spells, take exams, whatnot. She's very good, actually."

"Ohh…" the three girls chorus, and it's clear they were all wondering.

"So," Alice begins. "What do you do at home, besides study?"

Rose glances at Lily, expecting her to answer. Lily raises an eyebrow at Rose.

"You answer," she challenges.

Rose's eyes widen. Answer? She lets out a shaky breath, and glances around the compartment, where four pairs of eyes look at her expectantly. Her heartbeat shoots up, and her hands go clammy. Rose's eyes flick around the compartment, like a cornered rabbit. Then, slowly, carefully, she puts her two hands out in front of her, palms down, and makes a sort of tickling motion with her fingers.

"Piano," Lily translates. "She practices piano."

"Oh I love piano! I've always wanted to learn, you know." Alice says, smiling.

Rose's shoulders sag in relief, and she lets out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. They didn't laugh at her, and she didn't have to speak. They didn't expect her to.

"Do you know Rondo Alla Turca?" Marlene asks. Rose nods.

"She learned it when she was like, six." Lily praises, grinning.

 _Eleven,_ Rose corrects nervously.

"Eleven, six, is there a difference?" Lily shrugs. "Either way, it's incredible. She was playing this piece the other day, what was it Rose? The one where your hands are just flying all over the place?" Lily mimics the motion of intense piano playing with her hands. "Something with Bumblebee in the title…" Lily trails off, thinking.

"Flight of the Bumblebee?" Alice supplies.

"Yes! _That's_ the one!" Lily grins, clasping her hands together.

"Do you know 'The Entertainer?'" Mary asks.

Rose nods quickly.

"Oh, that one she really did learn when she was six," Lily laughs. "I remember, because she played it at her first recital."

Mary sits back, impressed.

"Blimey," she mutters.

"Once we get to Hogwarts, we've got to find Rose a piano so she can show us," Alice grins. "There's got to be one _somewhere_ in that giant castle."

The girls all murmur their agreement, looking at Rose with impressed looks on their faces. Rose looks down, her face as red as her hair.

* * *

"Now, before we begin sorting, we have a new student who will be joining us for the first time for her final year at Hogwarts," Dumbledore announces.

Rose stands off the side of the side of the stage, trying to calm her breathing. There are _so many_ people at those tables. Rose risks another peek and pulls back, going pale. _I can't do this,_ she thinks to herself.

".…The first sorting of this year, Rose Evans!" Dumbledore turns, clapping his hands with the rest of the students.

Rose walks stiffly onstage to the too-small stool and sits down, grateful when the sorting hat falls over her eyes and hides the millions of staring eyes.

 _Please hurry up and sort me,_ she thinks, _so I can get off this horrible stage._

"Well, you're very smart, I can see… you would flourish in Ravenclaw." A voice states into her ear. "But I also see a lot of bravery," the hat adds.

 _How in the world am I brave?_ Rose asks the hat. _I'm the biggest coward I know._

"You're here, aren't you?" The hat asks. "Not only on this stage, but in this school, away from home."

 _Yes, and I've never been more scared,_ Rose argues, clutching at the sides of the school.

"Well, isn't that the definition of bravery?" The hat asked, amused. "Facing your fears."

 _You sound like you've made up your mind,_ Rose grumbles.

"That I have," the hat agrees. "GRYFFINDOR!" He roars, and the Gryffindor table erupts in cheers.

Rose hops of the stool and scampers off the stage, racing over to Lily's side, her face burning with embarrassment.

"I knew you had it in you, Rose!" Lily cries, hugging her twin tightly.

"Yeah Rose!" Mary cheers, while Alice and Marlene pat her on the back.

Rose looks around in amazement, at Alice, Mary and Marlene, and all the people around her who are happy she's in their house. Not one person laughs at her.

* * *

 _ **Sorry this chapter is sorta short, but the last one was really long and I have a lot to cover in the next one, too. Again, any review is a blessing for me, and constructive criticism helps. Until next chapter, -MitM**_


	3. Chapter 2

**_Hello my wonderful readers! SO sorry this took a while to upload, my school library flooded and I've been busy with school and sports and whatnot. To answer my reviewers,_**

 ** _aicila850- Thank you, I'm glad you do!_**

 ** _HPuni101- Glad I cleared that up for you, hope you enjoy this chapter!_**

 ** _Guest- I'm happy to hear that! This chapter is definitely longer than the one before, so, hope you enjoy._**

 ** _Also! Shoutout to my AWESOME new beta FenneHP! A great person with even greater writing suggestions ;)_**

 ** _Now, enough distractions. Enjoy! -MitM_**

* * *

 _4 September 1976_

Lily slumps into her chair at breakfast the next morning with bags under her eyes and begins piling sausages onto her plate.

"Couldn't sleep?" Marlene asks cheerily. She's a morning person.

"Hardly," Lily grumbles. "I had patrol last night…" Lily yawns. "… until midnight."

"Oh right, head duties." Marlene nods in understanding.

"Speaking of which, who's the new head boy?" Mary asked. "I forgot to check yesterday."

Lily rolls her eyes and a scowl falls over her face. "James Potter," she growls, baring her teeth and shooting a glare at someone a little ways down the table.

" _James Potter!?"_ Alice squeaks, shocked.

"He's the _last_ person I thought would get picked!" Marlene exclaims, her eyes popping.

"James _Potter?"_ Mary asks, sure she had misheard.

Rose had never seen James before, but she looks in the direction Lily glares at now, hoping to recognise him based off Lily's descriptions. Lily had never gone into his physical attributes much, preferring to disparage his personality, but she knows he has messy hair and glasses, and she thinks she remembers Lily saying something about him being tall. Though Rose can't really use the bit about his height to locate him (as he's sitting down), she looks around for messy hair and glasses. She is able to locate him in a few seconds, mostly because he's making sure he's the center of attention.

"Oi, Sirius, give me back my sausage or I'll give you detention!" He shouts playfully to one of his friends.

Rose's eyebrows raise. James Potter was not what she was expecting. By how Lily described him, she assumed he would be covered in acne, with yellow teeth, a hulking figure and matted hair. But he's _not._ He's… well, quite fetching actually. Straight, pearly white teeth, smooth tan skin, tall and muscular, bright hazel eyes. His hair is black and feathery, with a wild, windswept look that puts Rose in mind of adventure or flying. It could hardly even be described as messy. Rose shoots Lily a look, wondering how on earth she had forgotten to mention these details.

"Ms. Evans, your schedule." Rose is snapped out of her over analyzation of James when McGonagall shoves a schedule under her nose. Rose takes it, but before she can even see what her first class is it's snatched away by Lily, who instantly begins comparing schedules.

"We've got our first class together," Lily notes. "History of Magic. Our second classes are both outside, but you've got Herbology and I've got Care of Magical Creatures. Then lunch… We've got Transfiguration together, but that's last class, after lunch we split." Once Lily finishes she hands Rose her schedule back.

Rose rolls her eyes but smiles, taking her schedule back and examining it for herself. History of Magic, Herbology, Defense against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration. She had studied all of these subjects at home, but to learn it in front of real, live professors! Rose can't help but feel a bit jittery with excitement.

"Well, anyways," Lily says, standing up. "Let's get going, Rose. I can't be late to my first class, I'm head girl."

"We should get to _our_ class too, Alice," Marlene prods.

"I haven't finished my toast!"

"Come _on,_ you _always_ take _forever_ at the breakfast table!"

"I'm _eating!_ "

* * *

Lily and Rose are early to the classroom, seeing as they left from the Great Hall early. There are a few girls in the back corner, a smart-looking boy in the front with curly hair and glasses, and a sandy-haired boy sitting directly in front of Lily.

Lily seems to recognise this boy, and greets him accordingly.

"Oh _Remus_ how _are_ you?" She says enthusiastically, leaning across the desk earnestly.

"Lily!" The boy exclaims, just noticing her presence. "It's great to see you again," he grins.

"Remus, this is my sister Rose! I think I've mentioned her before?" Lily introduces, gesturing at Rose, who can't help but blush.

"Hello Rose," the boy says, sticking out his hand for her to shake. "Remus Lupin, glad to meet you."

Rose takes his hand nervously and shakes it, sending him a shy smile.

"This is Rose's first year at Hogwarts," Lily explains.

"Are you enjoying it here so far?" Remus asks kindly.

Rose nods, ducking her head a little in embarrassment.

"Well good, I'm glad." Remus nods.

"So, what did you do over summer?" Lily asks.

Before Remus can open his mouth, however, a ghost floats through the blackboard, calling for attention. Rose jumps a little in surprise, though she burns red when she realizes she is the only one. Everyone else must be used to it by now.

"Attention, class!" The ghost calls. "Welcome back to your final year at Hogwarts, I'm sure you are all very excited… but we have a lot to cover in this year's' class, and expect all of you to pay attention, to ensure a good grade. Before we begin, however… I must take roll. Please raise your hand and say 'Present,' when I call your name. George Adams!"

"Present."

"Helen Alden!"

"Present!"

"Dean Bryce!"

"Present."

"Chloe Calder!"

"Present."

Rose found herself beginning to sweat as the names drew closer to hers. What would happen when she didn't answer? Would he get angry? Would he throw her out?

"Jacob Casben!"

"Present!"

What if he tried to force her? Would he make a big deal about it in front of the whole class?"

"Kelly Esben!"

"Present!"

She could see it now, how Professor McGonagall would try to be kind, put her hand on Rose's shoulder and politely explain that if she couldn't handle things like attendance, then she had no business in Hogwarts, and it would be for the best if she spent the remainder of her year homeschooling.

"Lily Evans!"

"Present!"

 _Oh God._

"Rose Evans!"

"Present!"

"Julia Fox!"

Wait, what? Rose looked over at Lily, who flashed her a wink, gave her a thumbs up, and mouthed ' _I've got your back.'_

Rose sits back in her chair and huffs a breath of relief. She could _hug_ Lily, the wonderful girl. If she isn't sure the act would draw attention to her, she's sure she would have. No one even noticed how Lily had called out instead of Rose. No one had cared. Rose reaches across the desk and grabs Lily's hand, squeezing it tightly. A hand hug, if you will. It would do for now.

"Rose, you know I wouldn't let anything happen to you, right?" Lily whispered, too quiet for anyone else to hear. Rose nods. "Good, then quit acting like a dope and pay attention," she whispers teasingly.

Rose grins, embarrassed, and pulls her hand away. Lily nudges her in the shoulder playfully and turns back to Binns, already forgetting about the incident. Sometimes, things aren't worth stressing about, Rose realizes.

* * *

"It's a shame that your first class is so boring," Lily says as they make their way across the grounds. "Everyone knows Professor Binns has the dullest class. But you've got Herbology next. That should be all right. See, those glass buildings? Those are the greenhouses. And down there, that hut, that's near where I'll be. So really, we're not that far away from each other." Lily stops, as they've reached the greenhouses. "Are you going to be alright on your own?" She asks, squinting in the bright morning sunshine.

Rose nods, peering into the glass windows. At home, she had a textbook with diagrams of the plants in them. But here? There were _actual plants,_ that she would learn to _actually take care of._ Another thrill of excitement runs through Rose and she clenches her fists in anticipation.

"Right, well, holler if you need me," Lily says with a grin, knowing full well Rose would be doing no such thing.

* * *

Class was about to start when a boy slid into the seat next to Rose's. _James Potter,_ Rose realized with a jump.

"You mind if I sit here?" He asks lowly.

Rose nods, letting her hair fall to cover her face. She didn't want him to recognise Lily through her face.

"Thanks," he mutters.

"Alright class, attention!" A young woman shouts from the front of the room. "Go ahead and grab a bowl and fill it with water, then grab a spade, bottle of milk, and a handful of these little green things things you see up front, those are the _seeds_ so be gentle, all of this _per group,_ whoever is sitting next to you is your partner," she instructs briskly, pointing to each thing as she names it. "We're going to be growing _gillyweed_ so I expect you all to listen!"

The students murmur excitedly and start bustling around the room.

"So, er, you can fill up the bowl and I'll do everything else?" James asks, ruffling his hair.

Rose nods nervously and stands up, still attempting to shield her face.

"Oh, I'm James, by the way," he adds.

Rose nods again, looking away nervously.

"Erm… so… you're new here, right?" He begins.

Rose wishes she could just leave, and grab the blasted bowl already.

"Yeah, I remember Dumbledore sorting you. I um, I think I missed your name?" James prods.

Rose looks away. There's no way she could give it to him, but she didn't want to seem rude. _Why_ is she always in these situations?

"Do you know Lily Evans?" James asks, opting to change the subject, looking slightly affronted.

Rose nods again, more enthusiastically.

"Well, you two look a lot alike. A _lot_ alike, actually…" he trails off. Suddenly, his eyes widen. "Oh! _Oh…._ oh God, I'm sorry. You must be her sister!" He realizes, grabbing his hair with one hand.

Rose smiles and nods, relieved.

" _Oh my gosh…_ I'm so sorry, I'm such an arse, I didn't realize," he apologises. "I remember something about- you know, that you can't…" he touches his throat, almost in a question.

Rose nods, embarrassed.

"Well, that explains a lot. Your name is, uh, Rose then, isn't it?" He asks.

Rose nods again, feeling dumb. She wished she could just sign with people. Or actually speak. Anything besides bobbing her head around like a possessed chicken.

"Well, that's good then. Let's get to work, eh?" He asks with a lopsided grin.

Rose smiles weakly before _finally_ turning to get the water bowl.

* * *

"Alright, class dismissed then," Professor Sprout says, waving all the students out.

James walks out with Rose, who stares at the floor.

"So, er… that was um, an interesting lesson," James stalls, peering over Rose's shoulder.

Rose wonders what he's doing, but then looks back to see Lily making her way up the hill. She smirks, realizing _exactly_ why he's waiting with her.

"Oi, James!" A voice calls.

James tears his gaze away from the hill, and grins.

"Sirius!" He calls, turning to face his approaching friend, but not moving away from his spot next to Rose.

"What's this, mate? Did Lily finally say yes?" He calls playfully, not quite close enough to see that Rose isn't Lily. He is, however, close enough for Rose to see that he is extremely attractive, and she blushes accordingly.

"Not yet," James grins. "This is Rose."

Sirius is close now, and his eyebrows raise in surprise. "Oh! Not-Lily!"

Rose smiles a little, but her heart flutters anxiously.

"She's Lily's twin," James explains. Sirius' mouth falls open in surprise and he puts a hand over his heart dramatically.

" _Lily's twin?"_ He asks in a staged shock that elicits a laugh from James. "I didn't know that _the_ Lily Evans has a twin!" He then looks her up and down, suddenly dropping the comedy act. Rose shifts uncomfortably under his gaze, blushing. He hooks his thumbs in his belt loops and gives her a lopsided grin. "I'm Sirius, by the way," he adds, his eyebrows raising ever so slightly.

Rose says nothing, but her eyes widen and her face turns crimson. _Is he hitting on me?_ She thinks in a panic, and her breathing picks up. He comes closer, and she realizes that he is also tall, nearly as tall as James. She gulps, trying not to look at him, choosing to stare at the ground instead.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" He asks, frowning.

At this, Rose's shoulders droop, and her heart drops. Of course. The famous question. _Cat got your tongue?_ The old woman at the marketplace asked. _Cat got your tongue?_ The friendly pastor asked. _Cat got your tongue?_ The parent of another child asked. A kid at the playground. A woman at a recital. A police officer. A neighbor. _Cat got your tongue?_

Sirius notices Rose's sudden appearance of hurt and disappointment, and looks genuinely concerned.

"Hey, what's wro-" he's cut off mid sentence by a flash of red light, and he crumples to the floor. Lily stands behind him, stone-faced, wand out.

"Come on Rose," she says, shooting a furious look at James. "Let's go." She grabs Rose's hand, turns heel, and stomps away.

"Listen," she says angrily as she strides angrily towards the castle, dragging Rose along behind her. "Don't talk to Sirius Black. He's an arse, and a player. If he ever tries to talk to you, just keep doing whatever. Pretend to be deaf. He doesn't take rejection well, so he'll probably leave you alone after that. But he's bad news, okay Rose? _Bad. News."_

Rose nods to appease Lily, but she can't help the flash of guilt she feels when she peeks over her shoulder and sees him passed out next to the greenhouse. James kneels next to him as if about to try to wake him, and she sees him watching Lily's receding figure. Rose can sense his disappointment from fifty yards away.

* * *

 _ **As I have stated before, ANY review lights up my day, so please review!**_


	4. Chapter 3

**_Hey there friends! Sorry this chapter took a while to write, would you believe it if I told you I have LESS free time now that it's spring break? Anyway, to answer my reviewers,_**

 ** _Corii00- Thank YOU! I'm glad you like my story luv!_**

 ** _Chancellor S- Basically XD as you will see in this chapter_**

 ** _Guest- thx fam!_**

 ** _morganna12- thank you, and I appreciate your review!_**

 ** _Tingting26021966- I'm not sure how far this story will go- I suppose that's something I should consider!_**

 ** _RoxieMoxie- Sorry you don't like my date formatting, but thank you for the review! You made me feel much better about my writing!_**

 ** _Anyway, enjoy the chap. :)_**

* * *

 _4 September 1976_

"Alright, class, quiet down," the tall bearded man says in a deep, grumbly voice. "I'm Professor Roberts, I'll be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year. Now, it's my understanding that you didn't go over nonverbal spells at all last year?" he asks, raising his eyebrows and looking around.

There is a murmur of assent heard from around the class..

"Now, did you at least go over the theory?" the professor asks, looking down at his notes through gold-rimmed spectacles.

"No," the students all say, shaking their heads.

"I see. Well, you are all very far behind. Nonverbal spells should have been at least introduced at the end of fifth year, but with your lack of curriculum… Well, it isn't much of a surprise..." teacher grumbles. "Well, I suppose we should dive right in, then. Please partner up, everybody, pairs of _two_ if you will, no exceptions."

Rose feels dread begin to pool into her stomach as friends rush to pair up with each other. No one even notices Rose until they are all partnered up. Rose looks at the floor, her face flaming red. The students all send her pitying looks, glad that at least _they_ are not partnerless.

"That's odd," Mr. Roberts rumbles, coming to stand by Rose. "I could have sworn I had an even amount of students… does anyone want to add this young woman to their group?"

"I'll do it!" a voice cries and the door bursts open. Sirius Black stands in the doorway, panting. "So sorry I was late, professor- I had to take a quick trip to the hospital wing- nothing to worry about- Would you like to see my note?" Sirius all but crams the white slip of parchment up the teacher's nostrils in an attempt to prove he has an excused lateness. Rose is under the distinct impression that this is not a common occurrence. An _excused_ lateness, that is.

"Yes yes, partner up then," Mr. Roberts moves the paper away from his face, annoyed.

"Sweet," Sirius grins and walks right over to Rose. "Hey princess. Miss me? Got to say, I was _not_ expecting your sister to come out and hex me like that." he says, giving Rose no time to answer him. Not that she was going to.

 _Just ignore him, and keep doing whatever,_ Rose remembers. But what was she doing before? Good lord he's attractive. _Pay attention!_ She mentally berates herself, and forces her attention back to Roberts.

"You will be practicing a simple charm on your partner, the word is _inflore,_ if it works, a harmless gust of wind will blow at them. This spell is good for a hot summer's day, and is simple enough to perform. I don't want to hear anyone saying this spell out loud, we are learning this _nonverbally._ Understood?" he looks over his spectacles at everyone sternly.

"Yes, professor," the class choruses.

* * *

" _Blast!"_ Sirius grumbles. "I can't get it! How do you do it!" he asks Rose, who had completed the spell first try. Professor Roberts had awarded her twenty points for it.

Rose shrugs, feeling internally amused at the poor boy's struggle. Not that he's alone. In fact, the whole class is feeling extremely frustrated at the moment. Not one of them (besides Rose) had managed to complete the spell.

"Alright," Sirius mutters. "I just have to-" he points his wand at Rose, but again nothing happens.

Rose can already see where he is going wrong. Nonverbal spells are meant to be _felt._ It is important to be aware of the magic inside you, and channel it to do your bidding by _thinking_ about the spell you want to accomplish. Rose can tell that Sirius is merely thinking the word and performing the wand movement.

"I give up," he huffs, dropping his wand arm back down to his side. "I don't know _how_ you do it."

Rose feels sorry that she can't explain what he's messing up, but at the same time it's for the best. Lily had distinctly said to ignore him.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Sirius asks her, tilting his head to the side.

Rose shakes her head, her scarlet curls gently bouncing around her face.

"Well, that's all right, I guess. I suppose Lily told you not to talk to me, anyways." he shrugs, twirling his wand in his fingers.

 _Not quite,_ Rose thinks.

"Hey, I understand. I know she thinks of me as a player, you know, 'cuz I get a lot of birds," he says casually.

Rose nods, feeling uncomfortable. _Where is he going with this?_

"Do a lot of guys ask you out?" he asks.

Rose blushes, shaking her head vigorously.

"Mister Black! I hope you are practicing your nonverbal spells!" Mr. Roberts shouts from across the room.

"Yes professor! Me and Rose were just discussing the theory," Sirius says smoothly, and it is clear he is in the habit of lying.

"Less theory, more work," the professor grumbles, but moves on.

Sirius grins and turns back to Rose.

"Well, anyways, I was wondering if this weekend you wanted to, y'know-"

Sirius' sentence is interrupted by the end-of-class bell, and Rose practically sprints out the door with her bag before Sirius can even get out his next word.

* * *

"So, how was Defense?" Lily asks cheerily once Rose slides into the seat next to her, panting heavily. She had sprinted as quickly as she could from Defense Against the Dark Arts to the Transfiguration classroom, desperate to escape Black.

Rose can barely shrug, her cheeks puffing out breaths of hot air, she's nearly wheezing.

"Did… something happen?" Lily asks, looking suspicious as she takes in Rose's exhausted state.

Rose shakes her head, flushing. _Why did Lily forbid her from the one boy who ACTUALLY wants to-_

"Let's sit here, James," Sirius' voice says before he slides into the seat in front of Rose's.

Rose jumps violently, jerking her knee into the table on accident. _Will I never escape him!?_ Rose thinks furiously, rubbing her bruised knee.

"So, I think you ran out on me before I could finish my question," Sirius says, turning to her with a grin.

"BLACK!" Lily shouts, whipping out her wand. "Don't talk to my sister!" She snarls, sparks flying out of the tip.

Sirius jerks back, pushing the piece of wood away from his throat.

"Relax, Evans!" he yelps. "I was only going to ask her out," he adds defensively.

"She doesn't WANT to go out with you!" Lily roars, jumping up from her seat, clenching her fists tight.

"Why don't you let her answer for herself?" Sirius asks, looking annoyed.

Lily scowls. "Fine!" She turns on Rose furiously, her red hair whipping around her face. "Do you want to go out with him!?" She asks angrily, an almost accusing look in her eyes.

Rose's eyes are wide and terrified, flicking back and forth between Lily and Sirius. She remains frozen, terrified to make any sort of movement. Eventually, Lily's eyes soften and a slightly disappointed look comes into Sirius' eyes.

"Just let it go, mate," James grumbles to Sirius, who nods and turns back around to face the front of the classroom.

Lily lets out a huff and plops back into her seat, crossing her arms angrily. Rose sees her send a glance at James- and though her brows are creased and her mouth is pulled tight, she senses Lily is not angry at him.

 _Definitely a first,_ Rose thinks, letting out a shaky breath. She feels relief that at least the attention is off of her.

At that moment, the teacher comes in and begins the lesson. Rose recognises the her as McGonagall, who briskly starts the lesson. She gives the stern woman her full attention, not once looking at the back of Sirius' head, hard though it may have been.

 _Could this day get any more dramatic?_ Rose wonders.

* * *

"Before we begin eating, I just wanted to remind the head girl and boy to meet me at my office briefly after dinner," Dumbledore says once everyone has filed into the Great Hall. "Aside from that, enjoy the meal!"

"Ugh," Lily grumbles. "I almost forgot about that stupid meeting."

"How was your first day, Rose?" Alice asks brightly, piling potatoes onto her plate. "Good?"

Rose nods, smiling a little.

"Did you like the talking paintings?" Mary asks.

"And the suits of armor?" Marlene adds.

"And the classes?" Lily mumbles around a mouthful of food.

"All of your professors were nice, right?" Alice asks, eagerly.

Rose nods, blushing at all the attention. Honestly, she loves everything about Hogwarts. Aside from the drama, of course, but she supposes that's to be expected with every school. It is simply the nature of teenagers.

Rose hangs behind the big group of Gryffindor heading back to the common room. While Lily isn't around to herd her from place to place, Rose decides to enjoy the vast beauty of Hogwarts for a moment. There are huge tapestries hanging from the walls, from all different places on the earth. She walks past a giant red one with a twisting gold Chinese dragon woven into the faded threads. Another has an elephant's face, a third depicts a wizard in a pointed hat holding a fire in his bare palm.

Rose runs her hand over the ancient threads, wondering what kind of magic it took to create them.

"So, you still never answered my question."

Rose jumps and spins around and finds herself face to face with Sirius.

 _Am I cursed? How does he keep finding me!?_ Rose thinks angrily.

"Look," he says, hooking his thumbs into his belt loops. "I get it if you don't want to go with me, but at least say so. And not because it's what your sister wants, because it's what _you_ want." He explains nervously, moving his weight from one foot to the other.

Rose stares at him, her feet rooted to the ground. _Why can't he just leave me alone? What I want doesn't matter,_ she thinks. He waits, but Rose still does nothing.

"Still not talking to me?" he asks, looking disappointed.

 _Don't take it personally,_ Rose thinks sarcastically.

"Sirius!" a voice shouts from down the hall.

Rose turns to see James jogging towards them, a weird expression on his face. Rose realizes it's anger.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt," he says, not looking sorry at all. "Sirius, mate, could I talk to you for a sec?" His voice is tight, and he doesn't wait for an answer before grabbing his best friend's arm and dragging him down the hall.

Rose watches them go, hesitating. Then, she follows them. She can't help it, really. She stops when she can hear their voices around the corner and presses herself against the wall.

"Just leave her alone! It's not that much to ask!" James' voice snaps.

"Why should I? You're the only one allowed to like an Evans?" Sirius' voice retorts angrily.

"Just listen to yourself! You can have, you _have had,_ every girl at Hogwarts! Is it _so much_ to ask for you to leave _that one_ alone!?"

"Why are you so protective of her? She's not a baby, she doesn't need you and Lily-"

"Lily wants to protect her little sister from a player!"

"I am not a player so quit saying that! I've dated like twelve girls okay!? That's not ' _Every girl at Hogwarts!'_ "

"Don't you think there's a reason she hates you!? You broke the heart of pretty much every friend she has, and now you want to go for her sister? That's out of order!"

"You're out of order! It's none of your business! And I've dated like _two_ of her friends okay so stop saying-"

"Look mate, stay away from the Evans'. Mess with every other girl, but don't mess with them. Got it?"

Rose holds her breath, waiting for Sirius' answer.

"Fine," she hears him mutter, sounding dejected. "Just not Evans."

* * *

 _ **So my beta told me I'm writing Sirius as a douchebag, and I apologize for that. He won't act like this in my other chapters, just hang in there for me. I have a lot of fun stuff coming up, promise. Until I write again! -MitM**_


	5. Chapter 4

**_A/N: Ok, first, to answer my reviewer:_**

 ** _RoxieMoxie- Thank you! I mostly just hate to say things like 'the next day' or 'a few days later' because it just sounds really corny to me. Anyways, thank you for your review and enjoy the chapter!_**

 ** _Second, PLEASE review. Reviews help me to a) get myself motivated to write more and b) help me to understand what you guys like and don't like so I know what to write in the future. Also, thanks to all who followed and/or favorited._**

 ** _Anyways. Have a chapter ;P_**

* * *

 _5 September 1976_

"Hey, Rose."

Rose groggily opens her eyes to see Lily's bright green eyes inches from her own.

"Rose," she repeats, shaking Rose's shoulder lightly. "Listen, do you want to come to the owlery with me to write to mum and dad before breakfast?" Lily whispers, looking wide awake.

Rose sits up in bed, rubbing her eyes. She looks around the dorm to see everyone else still sleeping.

 _What time is it?_ She signs.

"Um, six thirty, I think," Lily shrugs.

 _The sun isn't up yet._

"Are you coming or not?" Lily asks, looking slightly miffed.

 _Fine,_ Rose slides out of bed with a huff, her toes curling against the cold, hard wood of the floor.

* * *

"I wasn't really thinking, you know, cuz I was distracted. Otherwise I would never have even talked to him. Anyways, so I was like, 'what's the date?' and he's like, 'September 4th, speaking of date, how about you and me sneak out tonight-' and then I hit him with my Runes book because he's an _idiot."_

Rose nods, but she can't help the amusement she feels bubbling up inside her.

"So anyways, what are you going to write to mum and dad?"

Rose shrugs, not really knowing herself. She had only just gotten here, after all.

"Well, _I'm_ going to write about all my assignments coming up, and ask them to send the box under my bed that I forgot. It's full of chocolates, you know-"

Rose rolls her eyes, amused with Lily's babbling. Honestly, Rose has always thought she talks enough for the both of them.

"What do you think we'll do tomorrow in Transfiguration? I hope it's with live animals- I _love_ it when we work with animals. Except for one time she brought in all these fat toads we were supposed to be turning into footstools but they were _so_ gross and slimy, and they were always croaking- it was very annoying and hard to concentrate in there."

Rose nods along as if she's listening, but her attention is focused on her surroundings. There are so many neat things around the castle. Statues, tapestries, paintings- even things like doors and windows are elegant and beautiful. Every time she walks down the corridors she can't help but get distracted by all the charming features of the castle.

"Rose? Rose! Are you even listening?" Lily waves her hand in front of Rose's face, looking exasperated. "I _said_ we're here. The owlery is up these stairs."

Lily grabs Rose's hand and pulls her up the stairs, and Rose immediately feels the air get chillier. She finds out why when the reach the top of the stairs and see huge, towering windows with no glass to cover them. Owls swoop in and out with letters and parcels tied to their legs. Stationed around the edges of the room are writing desks- and Rose assumes they are enchanted to repel owl droppings, as the same can't be said for the floor. Ew.

"We haven't got an owl so we have to use one of the school's, they're marked with a red band around their ankle, see?" Lily says, going over to a nearby screech owl. "Anyway, let's write our letters and then we can mail them. Here, I brought you a quill and parchment."

 _Thank you,_ Rose signs, smiling.

Rose goes over to a desk to write her letter.

 _Dear mum and dad,_

 _How are you? I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me. Lily's looking out for me, so you already know I'm being well taken care of. The school is fantastic- you wouldn't believe how incredible the architecture is. The moving staircases throw me off a bit- because I'm not used to them- but as I said, Lily's a huge help. The food is great, but not as good as yours of course, mum. I love all my classes, even History. I'll write you again soon, and I'll see you for Holiday of course._

 _Lots of love,_

 _Rose_

Rose pauses, her quill stopping over the parchment. She hesitates. Petunia's leaving is still a raw wound for her parents, though a part of Rose saw it coming. Her mother had barely spoken since it happened- she was constantly in a sort of daze. Her father had been doing his best to keep the family together, but Rose could see the grief behind his eyes.

Finally, she forces her quill back down to the parchment to complete her letter.

 _P.S. How is Petunia? Has she written at all? If she does write, please let me know as soon as possible._

Rose finishes finally, setting her quill down. The sun is just barely peeking over the ridges of the mountains surrounding the castle, and birds are beginning to sing.

"Are you done?" Lily asks, peeking over Rose's shoulder. "Good. Let's get this sent, then."

Lily sends the screech owl off with both of their letters tied to it's leg.

"Breakfast time!" Lily exclaims, grabbing Rose's hand and attempting to pull her back down the stairs.

 _Wait,_ Rose signs.

"What?" Lily asks, bewildered.

 _Can we stay a bit?_ Rose signs hesitantly, blushing.

"For what?" Lily asks, tilting her head.

Rather than answer, Rose points out the window.

The sun has turned the sky a rich, deep pink, the first golden rays of sunlight peeking over the lush mountains.

"Oh…" Lily breathes out in awe. "Let's watch."

The girls rest their forearms on the cold stone window ledges and watch, wide eyed, as the sun comes up. Aside from the occasional screeches of the owls, it is perfectly peaceful.

After the sun is officially 'up,' the girls head back to the great hall. For once, Lily is quiet, still reflecting on the beauty of watching the sunrise.

"Hey ladies!" Alice calls once they've reached the great hall.

"Where have you two _been?"_ Mary starts. We've been looking all over for you!"

"Sorry, we were up at the-"

"Never mind that!" Marlene exclaims, impatient in her excitement. "Guess what we found?" She's nearly bouncing in her seat, a wide grin across her face.

"Um, I don't know, a-"

"A _piano!"_ Marlene interrupts again, jittery with excitement.

" _Really?_ " Lily asks, grinning. She turns to Rose, a wide smile spreading across her face. "Now you can all finally hear Rose play!"

Rose flushes, immediately feeling nervous. _How on earth did they_ actually _manage to find a piano!?_ Rose thinks, on the verge of panic. Of course, they had mentioned it before on the train, but she had never expected them to follow through! And so soon! It's what, the second day? And what if she messes up and sounds stupid? Her piano instructor used to say there was no such thing as a perfect performance, but that certainly did not make her feel better. If mistakes are imminent, than it's not a matter of _what if,_ but _when._ She could only pray the mistake is small enough that no one notices.

"I can't wait to hear," Alice grins, stirring sugar into her porridge. "When should we go? After dinner?"

"Yes! Right after dinner!" Marlene agrees, grinning.

"Can't wait," Mary agrees.

"There's no getting out of it now," Lily teases, poking Rose playfully.

"Nope. Prepare to perform," Mary giggles.

* * *

"Is something wrong, Rose?" Remus sounds concerned as he slides into his chair before History starts.

"Oh," Lily begins knowingly. "She's just nervous because of her perf-" Rose cuts Lily off by kicking her sharply in the shin. "Test!" Lily amends, her eyes watering in pain. "Because she has a test later!"

"Really? On the second day?" Remus asks, bewildered.

"Yep," Lily nods, grinning to cover her pained expression. "It's a pretty big test, so, she's nervous." Lily lies. She's a terrible liar.

"O-kay…" Remus trails off, looking suspicious, but letting the matter drop all the same. He shrugs and turns back around in his seat.

Lily shoots Rose a sharp glare and kicks her back under the table.

* * *

"So, er… how's, uh, your sister? Has she talked about me?" James asks during Herbology, ruffling his hair nervously.

Rose nods enthusiastically, smirking. _Payback, Lily,_ she thinks evilly.

"She has?" James asks, sounding delighted.

Rose nods again, grinning. It's not even a lie. Lily had ranted about him that morning for fifteen minutes.

"I guess you can't tell me what she said…" James trails off.

Rose shakes her head in confirmation.

"Well, that's fine," James grins, sitting back in his chair, looking a little dazed.

"Hey, you two back there! Pay attention!" Professor Sprout calls before continuing the lesson.

* * *

"Are you excited to play for us?" Alice asks, biting into a sandwich.

Rose feels dread pool into her stomach at the thought of performing in front of her new friends. She pushes her plate away, no longer hungry.

"Oh yeah," Lily answers for her sister, reaching for one of the sandwiches. "She can't wait."

* * *

Sirius doesn't say a word to her all of class.

 _He's listening to James,_ Rose realizes. She feels relieved, to be honest. He is very attractive and she was flattered at the attention, but really, look at her. She's mute, she doesn't even like when strangers look at her. She's nowhere near ready for any sort of relationship. It's for the best. Really.

* * *

"Just a few more hours, and you'll be blowing us all away with that piano playing of yours," Lily grins when Rose slides into the seat next to hers at transfiguration.

Rose elbows her in the ribs, annoyed.

"You're pretty violent when you're nervous," Lily observes teasingly.

 _I am not violent,_ Rose thinks, annoyed. _But I am nervous,_ she amends, feeling her stomach clench again. _My butterflies have butterflies._

* * *

With an extra three hours of free time before dinner, Rose decides to head to the library alone. She needs to study a bit before she faces her imminent death.

Rose watches her feet as she makes her way down the halls, too absorbed in her anxiety to even notice the architecture.

Suddenly Rose crashes right into someone and is knocked off her feet.

"Hey!" they snarl. "Watch where you're walking!"

Rose flushes and looks up, glaring at the idiot boy who knocked her over. Greasy hair, hooked nose, ugly as the devil. Rose realizes he must be Snape.

Snape seems to think he recognises Rose as well, because he immediately turns red.

"Lily! He gasps, grabbing Rose's hand and pulling her back to her feet. "I'm so sorry!"

 _I am NOT. LILY,_ Rose thinks furiously. _Has Lily got a mass of curly hair? No. Her hair is straight. How do people keep confusing us!?_

"Listen- I know you're still mad at me, but what I said- that happened _two years ago,_ can't we just forget about it?" He begs, his pitch black eyes looking at her pleadingly.

Rose realizes what he's talking about. Lily had cried about it for _weeks_ after it happened. _And now he wants to pester her about it!?_ She thinks furiously. While he is not actually pestering Lily, he only thinks he is, Rose still feels fury bubble up inside her. Her anger is very rare, in fact, it's almost nonexistent. Lily is usually the one with the temper. But when someone _messes with her big sister!?_

 _THWACK_

Snape flies backwards, grabbing his nose and crying out in pain.

Rose clenches her fist tighter, tempted to punch him again. She's pretty sure she broke his nose, she could swear she felt it crunch. She sends the bleeding boy a withering look before whipping around and striding away.

 _Don't worry,_ she thinks. _You're still ugly._

"Hey, Rose!" A voice calls, accompanied with the sound of running footsteps.

Rose turns and sees Remus running to her, a grin spread across his face.

"I saw what you just did," he laughs once he catches up to her. "I can't believe you just did that! You're the _last_ person I would expect to just go and slug a bloke like that! "

Rose shrugs, but her heart is racing. _I can't believe I just punched someone,_ she thinks faintly.

"Are you going to the library?" Remus asks, still grinning.

Rose nods, giving him a small smile.

"Oh, great! I'm actually heading up there myself. Mind if I walk with you?" Remus asks cheerily.

Rose shakes her head. She now sees why Lily adores Remus- he really is a sweetheart.

* * *

"What are you going to study first?" Remus asks.

Rose shows him her herbology book.

"Ah yes, Herbology. I'm rather useless at it, but it's a fine subject all the same," Remus grins.

Rose smiles and opens the large book up to Chapter 15- their reading assignment. It is her largest textbook because each plant is drawn out and labelled- very thoroughly.

Before she begins reading she grabs up her mass of hair and twists it into a bun on top of her head- she _hates_ when it fall in front of her face when she's reading.

Rose reads for a good ten minutes before she feels Remus' eyes on her. She looks up and sees that he's focused not on her face- but on her neck. She immediately claps her hand over her throat. She knows what he's looking at.

Remus blushes. "Sorry," he mutters, looking back down to his books.

Rose swallows hard. She keeps her hand where it is, covering the thin pink scar an inch below her jawline. She _hates_ when people look at it. She hates that it's there. _Stupid, stupid doctor,_ she curses internally.

Remus, who seems eager to forget about what happened, helps Rose out with her transfiguration homework. It's not very hard, but he has a lot of useful tips, and Rose can't help but wonder how he learned so much.

* * *

Once they had finished studying, Remus walks Rose down to the Great Hall for dinner.

"Rose! There you are! Are you ready to play for us?" Mary asks brightly once they reach the Gryffindor table.

"Play what?" Remus asks curiously.

"Piano!" Marlene grins. "We found one, and Rose promised she would play for us after dinner."

Rose frowns. She had promised no such thing.

"Wow, really?" Remus asks, looking at Rose, surprised. "Can I come?"

"Yes! Remus should come too!" Mary exclaims.

Rose blanches. _What!?_ She thinks in a panic.

"Woah woah woah," Lily steps in. "I'm not so sure Rose is okay with-"

"Oh, come on _Rose!_ It's only _one_ more person!" Marlene encourages.

Everyone looks at Rose, waiting for her to either allow or disallow Remus to come. Rose sighs, nodding. _One more person,_ she thinks, shuddering.

"Yay!" Mary cheers. "Now, let's eat!"

* * *

"It's in here," Alice leads, pointing to a large wooden door. "There's loads of neat stuff in here, I reckon they just use it for a storage room."

The piano is white, with intricate gold patterns drawn over it. Rose sits at the bench and runs her fingers over the keys. They are old, but still smooth.

"Is it in tune?" Lily asks, coming to stand next to Rose.

Rose does a quick scale to test, before nodding in confirmation.

"Hm. I wonder if there's a spell for that..." Lily muses.

Rose shrugs.

"Well, what are you going to play?" Mary asks.

Rose looks around at everyone nervously, before turning to Lily.

"What?" Lily asks.

 _Piano Man_ , she signs quickly, as if hoping no one will notice. _You sing._

Lily's eyebrows raise, but she sighs and nods all the same. "I should've known you were going to make me sing," Lily grumbles.

"You're going to sing?" Everyone asks, looking even more enthusiastic.

"Well, I suppose I have to, now," Lily says with a smile, rolling her eyes.

"What song?" Remus asks.

"Piano Man, she says. Does anyone know Billy Joel?" Lily asks, looking around.

Remus and Mary nod, but both Alice and Marlene look confused.

"Is he a muggle?" Alice asks.

"Yes, he's a muggle singer," Remus explains.

"Oh! I've never heard muggle music before!" Alice exclaims, looking excited.

"Well, you're in for a treat. We had Petunia learn the harmonica part, remember Rose? Too bad she's-" Lily breaks off suddenly, and the same look of sadness appears in both girl's faces. Lily clears her throat. "Well, anyways- we'll just have to do without. Still a great song," Lily amends.

"Can't wait," Marlene says, grinning.

Rose lets out a sigh and places her hands on the keys. She presses down a few chords to warm herself up, before looking at Lily with raised eyebrows.

"Ready when you are," Lily grins.

So Rose starts to play. She does the intro with one hand and throws in the harmonica part in a higher octave with the other. It sounds good- and then Lily starts to sing.

She has a very nice voice- and by the looks on everyone's faces, they haven't heard her sing before.

Rose feels herself relaxing as she plays. Here, at a piano bench, she is in her element. It's actually a relief. She feels all the stress, anxiety, and fear she's felt since arriving at Hogwarts melting away. It's as though she's back home, sitting at her own piano, with her mum in the kitchen and her dad on the couch.

 _"He says 'Son can you play me a memory...'"_

Rose plays as if there aren't four captivated pairs of eyes on her.

 _"'I'm not really sure how it goes…'"_

She plays as if her family are the only ones who can hear her.

 _"'But it's sad, and it's sweet, and I knew it complete, when I wore a younger man's clothes…'"_

She plays as if there is nothing to worry about.

 _"Oh, la la la, la de da… la la la de da… da dum…"_

She plays as if Petunia never ran away and her mother stopped drowning in her own grief.

 _"Play us a song, you're the piano man..."_

She plays as if she and Lily never got letters, as though there was no such place as Hogwarts.

 _"Play us a song tonight…"_

She plays as if she could go to a normal school with normal friends.

 _"Well, we're all in the mood for a melody…"_

She plays as if she has a voice of her own, as if the piano is the vessel through which she can speak.

 _"And you've got us feelin' alright."_

Rose plays the song flawlessly- letting the music free her, letting it bring her peace.

After Piano Man (and much clapping and bowing from her peers), she played a variety of classical songs- ranging from sad and slow to fast and jumpy. She even started to take requests, and finished with some of the pieces she had written on her own.

"I never would've guessed you could play so well," Remus says to her, grinning.

Rose shrugs, blushing. _It's just like a regular recital- except with friends instead of strangers._ She feels relieved. No one had even noticed the few mistakes she did make.

They finally leave the piano and are now walking back to the gryffindor dormitory, chatting happily.

"Rose, you sounded _amazing_ ," Alice grins enthusiastically.

"Well, it's almost all she does," Lily says, grinning.

Rose looks at the floor, shrugging again, but she can't help but smile. She makes a point of remembering where the piano is, so she can find it again.

* * *

Rose looks out their dorm window, at the moon. Only a sliver is missing. It's silvery light shines over the mountains and across the grounds, creating dancing shadows in the gentle wind. It looks only days away from being full.

"Rose? Are you coming to bed?" Lily asks.

Rose drags her eyes away from the starry sky and nods, sending one last look outside before sliding into her covers for sleep.

* * *

 _ **Yup. So. Review. Follow. Favorite. All that good stuff. Bye! -MitM**_


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